To Ruchi on bhava and negativities getting in the way

[Guest guest]

Ruchi wrote:

I had another question too. If you do puja when you are not

reallyfeeling upto it, you do not have the bhava and you sit there

and allkinds of negativities are popping in your head, is it worth to

do it. Itmakes me feel very guilty. I say mother I am sorry, I do not

want tothink this way or that, but then another thought pops in my

mind. Itbecomes a struggle. Is their any merit in this kind of puja.

and thenagain is'nt using the merit word completely wrong. Let me

know yourthoughts on this.

Dear Ruchi ~ thank you for your thoughtful comments to my post. It is

helpful to know I am not the only one who has this problem. I think

partly, for me, it is a matter of attitude and focus. The more I

focus on my illness, the less I focus on other things I feel good

about, and the worse I feel. Same thing with negativities of any kind

~ the more focus I give them, the bigger it gets. Right now I am just

giving myself permission to do what I can do, whatever that may be.

This morning, it was making the round of my altar and saying good

morning to all the dieties and gurus there and then thanking God/dess

for another day and asking for the grace to live it well. Yesterday, I

did japa, and that was all I could do. But it felt very good doing it.

I think it is like meditation, which, in a way, japa becomes for me,

for the mantra often carries me into a state of No-thing-ness, that

state of fullness I mentioned previously.

 

So I think it would be true for puja too, even if I just picked a

small thing to do ~ when the negativities rise, just let them

go...don't hold them, push them away, feel bad about them. They are

just samskaras being released. Let them pass by like clouds and then

continue on. As for having the bhava, I wouldn't worry about it; I

believe that will come. To make an analogy, I had a painting teacher

once who said "art is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent

persperation," so I learned to paint whether I felt like it or not,

or whether I was inspired or not. This was a tremendoud lesson. Right

now, with my spiritual practice, I am learning to accept myself being

able to do just what I am able to do and not feel bad if I can't do

more. Some people have told me that Maa has even said to them, start

where you are, start slow, then add as you feel able. I don't think

Maa would want us to "should" on ourselves. Many blessings and thanks

for giving me another opportunity to think about this ~ Linda

[Guest guest]

Jai Maa!

 

Our beloved Divine Mother is the one who has given liberation even to the

asuras who came with the intention of killing Her! Will She not have that same

compassion for us? When I am beset with negativity, I focus on japa of powerful

mantras. First, I pray to Mother, saying "Oh Maa, I am drowning in this

self-created misery of negative thoughts, but I don't want this negativity at

all. I am doing this japa in order to purify myself, because Your mantras are

like the sacred water of life, capable of purifying any sin." All mothers in

the world clean their children, no matter how dirty they get. The animal

mothers will lick their offspring to keep them clean. Human mothers use water

and soap. I feel that Divine Mother uses mantras to wash off Her children!

 

The mantras help to destroy the negative thought patterns and replace them with

positive ones. Mantras are like patterns of divinity; if you keep invoking the

pattern of divinity, the asuric patterns lingering in the aura will inevitably

be destroyed. It may take a little time, but it WILL happen. The mantras guide

the mind into a more beneficial track. I try to repeat my mantra until I start

to feel better. Once I feel some relief and calmness, then I start the puja.

 

The ultimate offering to Mother is a pure heart full of love and kindness. In

order to get to that point, we have to offer whatever negativity might be

there, with the understanding that offering our negativity to Her is the same

as asking Her to transform it. I have heard that when we offer a fruit to holy

people, we are really offering our negative karma. When they give it back as

prasada, they are indicating that they have purified that karma and are now

giving their blessing to us. So we offer for the purpose of destroying our

karma.

 

It's like when Swamiji calls a fire ceremony a "karma barbecue"! The sacred

fire is really the mouth of Divine Mother, but we are offering all our

negativity along with the rice or samagri. We might think, oh, how can we offer

our negativity into Mother's mouth? But She is the blazing fire of Highest

Consciousness. She is the spandana sakti - the ultimate vibration capable of

converting all discordant melodies into Her own sublime melody. Kali Ma is the

one who is capable of consuming ALL of Raktabija's blood, representing the

negativity of endless desires and bad thoughts. She manifests in whatever form

is necessary and perfect for the purpose of purifying Her children and

restoring Dharma in their lives.

 

We may have some negative thoughts during the puja, but the simple fact that we

are doing the puja out of love and desire for spiritual progress, and not for

personal gain, is the important thing. Mother knows our hearts, and She is

happy if we even wish to give Her something. As long as we maintain the

attitude that we want to give up the negativity permanently and not maintain

it, we should not worry about it. As Linda said, it's just the samskaras that

need to be released. As they are released, they have to come to the surface

before leaving us forever.

 

It's like the saying, "If you build it, they will come." If we go through the

motions of puja, even without the bhava, the puja itself will help us to

develop the bhava. The day will come when we can do puja like Maa and Swamiji,

with complete and full devotional bhava every single time.

 

And Linda - please don't feel that japa is "all" you can do, it's a lot! I

think it's wonderful that you are able to do japa and have the experience of

going beyond the mantra into the fullness of that Silence. In my opinion, even

if I lost my crystal Sri Yantra, which I love very much, or my beautiful

pictures of Devi, or if I could never do puja again, all I really need is the

mantra. The mantra is the sound body of God. If you repeat the mantra, you can

invoke that form of God and eventually transform yourself into that form of

God. Even if I never learn any more sadhana techniques, I am so happy that I

have the mantras I have, as that is all I really need.

 

Jai Maa!

Ekta

--- nierika wrote:

>

> Ruchi wrote:

>

> I had another question too. If you do puja when you are not really

> feeling upto it, you do not have the bhava and you sit there and all

> kinds of negativities are popping in your head, is it worth to do it. It

> makes me feel very guilty. I say mother I am sorry, I do not want to

> think this way or that, but then another thought pops in my mind. It

> becomes a struggle. Is their any merit in this kind of puja. and then

> again is'nt using the merit word completely wrong. Let me know your

> thoughts on this.

>

>

>

> Dear Ruchi ~ thank you for your thoughtful comments to my post. It is

> helpful to know I am not the only one who has this problem. I think partly,

> for me,

> it is a matter of attitude and focus. The more I focus on my illness, the

> less I focus on other things I feel good about, and the worse I feel. Same

> thing

> with negativities of any kind ~ the more focus I give them, the bigger it

> gets. Right now I am just giving myself permission to do what I can do,

> whatever that may be. This morning, it was making the round of my altar and

> saying

> good morning to all the dieties and gurus there and then thanking God/dess

> for

> another day and asking for the grace to live it well. Yesterday, I did japa,

>

> and that was all I could do. But it felt very good doing it. I think it is

> like meditation, which, in a way, japa becomes for me, for the mantra often

> carries me into a state of No-thing-ness, that state of fullness I mentioned

>

> previously.

>

> So I think it would be true for puja too, even if I just picked a small

> thing to do ~ when the negativities rise, just let them go...don't hold them,

>

> push them away, feel bad about them. They are just samskaras being released.

> Let

> them pass by like clouds and then continue on. As for having the bhava, I

> wouldn't worry about it; I believe that will come. To make an analogy, I had

> a

> painting teacher once who said "art is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent

> persperation," so I learned to paint whether I felt like it or not, or

> whether

> I was inspired or not. This was a tremendoud lesson. Right now, with my

> spiritual practice, I am learning to accept myself being able to do just

> what I

> am able to do and not feel bad if I can't do more. Some people have told me

> that Maa has even said to them, start where you are, start slow, then add as

>

> you feel able. I don't think Maa would want us to "should" on ourselves. Many

>

> blessings and thanks for giving me another opportunity to think about this ~

>

> Linda

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Ekta,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Mantra. They were beautiful.

Sincerely,

Grace

Jai Maa Jai Swamiji

On 08/02/2005, at 8:38 AM, Eleathea Barraclough wrote:

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